A decree freezes a moment in time: incomes, schedules, school years, addresses. Life does not stay frozen. Colorado law allows parenting time, decision-making, child support, and maintenance to be revisited when circumstances change in a substantial and continuing way.

We handle both directions of that door: pursuing modifications the facts support, and defending against ones they do not. When the problem is not the order but the other party ignoring it, enforcement remedies for parenting time and support are their own track, and we use them.

How we help

• Modifying parenting time and decision-making responsibility, which carry different legal standards depending on the change
• Child support and maintenance modifications based on substantial and continuing changes in circumstances
• Relocation cases when a parent seeks to move with the children after the decree
• Enforcement of parenting time under Colorado's dedicated remedies statute, including makeup parenting time
• Contempt proceedings and collection of unpaid support or unpaid property settlement obligations
• Defending against modification requests and contempt claims that lack merit

When Colorado Courts Will Change an Existing Order

The unifying theme is a substantial and continuing change in circumstances: temporary bumps in the road usually are not enough.

• Parenting time, decision-making responsibility, child support, and court-ordered maintenance can all be modified; each has its own statute and standard.
• Property division is final: with narrow exceptions like fraud or undisclosed assets, courts do not reopen the asset split after the decree.
• The parent or spouse asking for the change carries the burden of proving it is justified.
• Many decrees and parenting plans require mediation before filing a modification motion, and metro courts commonly order it anyway.

Modifying Parenting Time Under C.R.S. 14-10-129

Routine schedule adjustments are decided under the best interests of the child standard, so courts can fine-tune parenting time as children grow and circumstances shift.

• A change that also switches which parent the child lives with most of the time faces a stricter standard: generally the court keeps the existing arrangement unless the parties agree, the child has been integrated into the other home with consent, or the current environment endangers the child and the benefit of change outweighs the harm.
• After a contested motion of that type is decided, a parent generally must wait two years before filing another, absent endangerment.
• A motion to restrict parenting time under C.R.S. 14-10-129(4) alleges imminent physical or emotional danger and requires a hearing within 14 days; it is a serious tool that courts expect parties to use carefully.
• Common triggers for schedule modifications include new work schedules, school changes, a child's evolving activities and needs, and persistent conflict at exchanges.

Modifying Decision-Making Under C.R.S. 14-10-131

Courts keep the existing allocation of decision-making unless the moving parent proves changed circumstances and that modification serves the child's best interests within the statute's framework.

• Grounds include agreement of the parties, integration of the child into the moving party's home with consent, or endangerment where the benefit of change outweighs the harm.
• The two-year rule applies here too: after a motion is denied or decided, a new motion generally must wait two years unless the child is endangered.
• Repeated unilateral decision-making by one parent, or a total breakdown in communication, is a common basis for converting joint decision-making to sole.
• Evidence discipline matters: contemporaneous records of missed consultations, medical or school conflicts, and communication logs are usually more persuasive than general complaints.

Modifying Child Support and Maintenance Under C.R.S. 14-10-122

Child support can be modified when a continuing change (income, overnights, health insurance, emancipation of a child, child care costs) would move the monthly amount by 10 percent or more.

• Maintenance is modifiable on a substantial and continuing change that makes the existing order unfair, unless the parties agreed to non-modifiable contractual maintenance.
• Modified support generally applies retroactively only to the date the motion was filed, which makes prompt filing after a job loss critical.
• Maintenance ends automatically when the recipient remarries or a party dies, unless the agreement provides otherwise; cohabitation alone does not automatically terminate it.
• Voluntary income reductions rarely help the reducing party: courts can impute potential income to a parent or spouse who is voluntarily earning below capacity.

Relocation After the Decree

A parent who intends to move with the child far enough to substantially change the child's geographic ties to the other parent must give notice with the proposed new location and a revised parenting plan.

• Contested relocations are decided under the factors in C.R.S. 14-10-129(2)(c), including the reasons for and against the move, each party's ties, educational opportunities, extended family, and the impact on the child.
• Neither parent carries a presumption in a post-decree relocation; the court weighs the statutory factors fresh, and these are among the least predictable family law disputes.
• Relocation motions receive docket priority in Colorado, but families should still plan for a meaningful litigation timeline before any move.
• Moving without notice or court permission can backfire badly, up to and including orders returning the child and changes to the parenting arrangement.

Local courts and where to file

Modification motions are filed in the district court that entered the original decree, which retains jurisdiction: Denver (2nd JD), Arapahoe (18th JD), Douglas (23rd JD since its January 2025 split from the 18th), Adams and Broomfield (17th JD), or Jefferson (1st JD). If everyone has moved to a different Colorado county, venue can sometimes be transferred, and metro districts often route modification motions through magistrates and require mediation before a contested hearing.

Last updated August 2026.